The 1880 Train

what a ride. It was interesting this summer to be able to ride the train and also take some pictures of it coming round the bend. I should state I never realized how loud a train whistle was until you try and stand 15 feet away from it. I did not stand there for that long and yes, I did miss some pictures.

The train runs from Hill City SD to Keystone SD round trip takes about two hours. There were numerous crossings along the train route, so we had our choice of places to shoot the train. We settled on two different crossings. Here are some of those photos.

After taking pictures of the train from the roadside we decided to take the train. We left from Hill City. I do love my chair especially when it lets me ride around and take pictures I would not have taken before. I decided to run around the station at Hill City. I was able to catch them topping off the steam and blowing off some steam.

The train is ADA accessible with a lift and there is room for 2 wheelchairs or scooters for each trip. We decided to take the earliest train to both beat the heat and the crowds. That was a smart move on our part, because on the return trip from Keystone to Hill City the train was filling up. On the trip to Keystone Roy sat on the left side of the train and I was on the right side we switched sides for the return trip. I saw no animals on my side of the train on the way to Keystone. I was however able to catch some smoke in the air when they blew the whistle at a crossing.

Speaking of blowing the whistle; they use morse code to warn people when the train is coming to a crossing. the Morse Code is for the letter “Q”. (And indeed, it is dah-dah-dit-dah.) He went on to say he was told that British ships in the late 1800s blew long-long-short-long on the ship’s horn—the letter “Q”—as a way of letting other maritime traffic know that Queen Victoria was on board and to yield the right of way. So, we are all royalty. That was what our conductor told us. (He wouldn’t lie.) I digress.

At Keystone the train has to disconnect and hook up to the back of the train. There is no turn table to turn the engine around. So, on the way back to Hill City the back end of the train is out front. I was able to get off the train and take a few pictures of the train engine passing me.

On the way back to Hill City I saw a deer who got spooked when the train blew the whistle his head popped up and I missed the shot. I was however able to capture little boy blue fishing. The garage is actually between two boulders makes for interesting walls. We also passed the remains of an old mine building.

I’m glad Roy and I took the train it gave me a different perspective on the landscape.

Here Fishy Fishy

No, I have not taken up fishing. We did however go to the D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish SD for the day. (We chose the best day to go more on that later.) This is a FREE attraction it is situated right next to the city park in Spearfish SD. It looks nondescript when you park in the lot and walk across the boardwalk. Once inside you see turn of last century buildings, water and fish the grounds are well kept.

Our first stop was the pond gift shop to get the lay of the land and buy some fish food. Roy never misses an opportunity to feed the animals. I never miss the opportunity to photograph him feeding the animals. We headed down the elevator to see the underwater viewing windows. In the pond there is rainbow, brown, and cut throat trout. The fish in this pond are only for display they will not be released to the wild. Some of the fish are over 8 years old and about 14lbs. Big uns I tell you. The window was a tad muddy due to all the recent rains and the small flood the hatchery experienced earlier in the month. I couldn’t figure out why all the fish were moving back and forth and jumping out of the water, it looked strange. I was seeing the underneath action from the fish being fed.

We headed back up and decided it was time to feed the fish. The amazing thing is watching from above was not as cool as watching from below. Although I did get to see a few fish breech the surface. You could also see that the ducks knew where free food was.

We tried to figure out where to the start the journey. The museum of course. This building was the original 1899 Spearfish Hatchery.

Inside there was a model of a Fish Rail Car. The model was made for $400 and was displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition. The car itself had crew quarters for the employees who had to ride along and make sure the fish arrived alive. The system for aerating the water was advanced for its time. This was only one mode of transportation to get fish from hatchery to stream. Here is a link to the fish car era.

Some other methods of transportation include, backpacking, trucks, planes, and helicopters. The containers included backpacks tanks on trucks and even milk cans. The photo to the left captures stocking fish using a milk can. Whatever container the fish are in the water still had to be circulated, cooled, and oxygenated.

Also in the museum was the hatchery office. It included the original roll top desk, plus two pieces of equipment I even used when I was younger. Unfortunately, kids today have no experience with this type of equipment. (I felt a little old after seeing these.)

I learned that the fresh water from Spearfish Creek was brought into the hatchery via cedar water pipes. This occurred until the 1970s when most of the pipes were replaced. The hatchery made their own fish food by grinding up raw meat and mixing it with grains prior to the invention of fish pellets.

After the museum we headed up to the Booth House which is where the superintendents lived until 1983. The house was constructed in 1905 it was one of the first houses in Spearfish to have indoor plumbing and electricity.

Finishing up with the hatchery and enjoying the beautiful weather we stopped for ice cream then headed towards Deadwood and home. Where a surprise was waiting.

Surf

No, I did not find a place to go surfing in South Dakota. I did however find the Sanford Underground Research Facility better known as Surf. We had finished the Renaissance Festival and I told Roy why don’t we stop in Surf we are right here. The museum features the current work being done below ground many many feet below ground to be exact. Here’s a link to the Experiments and stuff. Roy did try to get an underground tour of the lab. You guessed it they said NO!

The most interesting research they are doing is involving Neutrinos Here is a link from energy.gov also explaining them. Before this place was home to SURF Sanford Underground Research Facility. It was the Homestake mine. The mine pit is a mile across and 8000 feet deep. This isn’t my picture but you can see how large the open pit is. The visitor center for SURF sits right on the edge of the pit. They also have one of the elevator cars that would take works down into the tunnels of the mine shaft.

I did have to buy one shirt and this is actually my first t-shirt of the journey. The back says “don’t trust an atom… They make up everything.

Taking some time to catch up with photos and blogs. Plus, dodging rain drops.